Risktaker, Caretaker, Surgeon, and Undertaker
The Four Faces Of Strategic Leadership
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The past two decades has been an era of strategic sounding slogans. Many companies have been led by "contract managers" who have often sacrificed the organization's future for their own short term profits. Many have been found guilty of dishonesty and "cooking the books" to enable them and their associates to get unjustified rewards.
The basic premise of this book is that there is no one leader for all seasons, situations and times and there is a need to select and support the right leader for the right time and the right strategy. It identifies the "core competencies" of all leaders and then shows how different type of strategies require different type of leaders, staff, operating professionals as well as reward and measurement systems.
Leaders need to reflect the organizations place in its life cycle and the organization's "strategic drivers and differentiators".
Four type of leaders are discussed:
Risktakers- the revolutionaries who can develop and lead a new or changing business or institution during their birth, infancy and early youth.
Caretakers- the evolutionary, systematic growers who can move the company and institution from its infancy to adulthood.
Surgeons- the "restructurers" who can objectively and clinically focus on the most critical and vital organs and discard or replace those who don't make the grade. These prosper when the organization is mature and may have gotten too top heavy.
Undertakers- those who recognize that the organization can't make it on its own and need to be merged with a healthy organization or closed down. They are sensitive and committed to the people and their needs during this trying process.
The selecting of the right leaders takes more than matching the life cycle or an organization. It requires matching the leader with the customer, the competitive situation, the investors, government and community. Once the leader is selected, the book, highlights what type of supporting people and organizational structures are required to make it all work.
In short,Risktaker, Caretaker, Surgeon, Undertaker provided the guidelines needed to assure that the right leader fits the organizations needs. It is a "must" for all Board members and individuals responsible for the selection of leaders, both at the corporate, business unit, segment and product line levels of an organization.
Rothschild describes the talents required by each type of leader. These include their ability to innovate, solve complex problems, create long term infrastructures and production.
For each type of leader, Rothschild describes the most appropriate strategy, strategic team, leadership characteristics, organization and measurement systems.
The book is vital to do an effective staffing and succession planning.
